Time journal named Tesla CEO and SpaceX founder Elon Musk as its 2021 Person of the Year on Monday. Time’s editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal defined the determination to select the richest man on Earth, saying he was emblematic of 2021 and the yr’s most influential particular person.
“Person of the Year is a marker of influence, and few individuals have had more influence than Musk on life on Earth, and potentially life off Earth too,” Felsenthal wrote. “In 2021, Musk emerged not just as the world’s richest person but also as perhaps the richest example of a massive shift in our society.”
He described the shift in how wealthy entrepreneurs and their priorities are shaping the lives of many, amid a deepening financial inequality disaster that was exacerbated throughout the pandemic. But he mentioned Musk stands out from that group.
“For creating solutions to an existential crisis, for embodying the possibilities and the perils of the age of tech titans, for driving society’s most daring and disruptive transformations, Elon Musk is TIME’s 2021 Person of the Year,” Felsenthal added.
This yr, Musk grew to become the first particular person ever to be price greater than $300 billion. The 50-year-old continued to endear followers (and traders) along with his ambitions. He mentioned plans for Tesla to construct a humanoid robotic and goals to have a prototype prepared by subsequent yr. In the meantime, Tesla changed into a trillion-dollar company over the final yr, as the U.S. continues to see a push for extra electrical autos.
SpaceX, Musk’s different signature firm, launched an all-civilian, non-astronaut crew to area in September, opening the doorways for extra “everyday people” to do the identical.
“We don’t yet know how fully Tesla, SpaceX and the ventures Musk has yet to think up will change our lives,” Felsenthal mentioned. “At 50, he has plenty of time to write the future, his own and ours. Like it or not, we are now in Musk’s world.”
Musk additionally routinely brought on tidal waves with tweets to his greater than 66 million followers. He is been blamed for inflicting a crypto crash and bought $5 billion price of Tesla inventory after a Twitter ballot. Musk additionally grabbed headlines by providing to donate to finish world starvation — if the United Nations might present how they’d spend the cash. On a private word, Musk revealed he has Asperger’s when he hosted “Saturday Night Live” in Could.
In its newest difficulty, Time additionally honored 4 scientists who developed mRNA vaccines as 2021’s “Heroes of the Year” — praising them for a “breakthrough of singular importance” that is serving to defend thousands and thousands of folks towards COVID-19.
